Mark's St Oswald's Way

St Oswald's Way · 4 July 2017
People say that a cancer diagnosis is a moment that muddles the mind and needs a long time to digest. They also say that a hospital bed in front of three young doctors and a consultant is possibly not the best environment to hear such news. All of which in my case are true. However there are few people faced by a similar experience then take a decision in that moment to create a new approach, a new place where care is as important as the medicine.
Maggie Keswick Jenks did this and then went on to establish the Maggie Centres. Maggie Centres are places where people feel at home and cared for. The object of them is to encourage people who are frightened and anxious about coping with cancer to feel better by developing their sense of confidence and resourcefulness.
'At the heart of Maggie's Centre philosophy is the recognition that each person is 'in charge' of their own disease as they are of their own life. In many cases people will feel better for becoming an active participant in their treatment.'
Maggie's Centres: Marching On by Marcia Blakenham
Maggie's offer three areas of support for people with cancer and their families and friends::
Practical support
Emotional support
Social support
These approaches have helped me in simple but profound ways for example:
Maggie's Centre helped me find a way to tell my children that I was ill but I was going to be OK. Maggie's Centre helped me to find specialist travel insurance with a company who knew about my type of tumor and its treatment so that I could confidently go abroad and unwind. Maggie's Centre help me think by always offering me a cup of tea around the kitchen table after another consultation with the oncologist.
But above all Maggie's Centre has at their heart, design and architecture. The power of which aims to fosters the centre users' curiosity and imagination, at the same time as making them feel comfortable and looked after. Maggie Keswick Jenks recognised that thoughtful design will impact positively on the healing of individuals.
My walk is conifdently getting me fit before a major operation, an active part of my recovery , and just a small part in trying to keep Maggies design philosophy alive and thriving alongside all the Maggie Centre users.
Charities pay a small fee for our service. Learn more about fees